


Realization

by dotncsal



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotncsal/pseuds/dotncsal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Earl Harlan just keeps falling in love with people he knows he'll never be able to have. Still, he never would've guessed that he'd eventually fall for the one person he was supposed to hate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Realization

Earl Harlan could hardly remember a time when he didn’t have feelings for Cecil Palmer. He could remember being thirteen and confused about the way his heart jumped whenever his best friend came over his house, thinking that maybe he had some sort of heart disease and was dying. He could remember being seventeen and helping Cecil earn badges alongside him in the Scouts, of camping trips out in the desert where they would share a tent and kiss all night under the stars. He could remember being nineteen for a while, watching Cecil as he grew older and older, their relationship ending in time. He could most definitely remember watching as that stupid, stupid scientist came into town and instantly caught Cecil’s eye, while Earl had to work for years to even be noticed by him in that way. He could remember the forced feeling of resentment towards the man with the perfect hair, because how could Earl feel anything but contempt for the man who had gotten everything that Earl had worked so hard for just handed to him like that? 

Earl could also remember being dragged off by mute children at an Eternal Scouts ceremony. He could remember waking up one morning, in a bed he couldn’t remember, in a house he couldn’t remember, with a job he couldn’t remember and a son he couldn’t remember, either. He could remember Cecil, though, and meeting up with him, asking what exactly had happened to him and receiving a straightforward answer. He could remember asking how Cecil had been, and Cecil telling him all about his relationship, his relationship with Carlos.

Earl had no intentions of ever even meeting Carlos, let alone speaking to him, let alone liking him. So when he was sitting alone in a booth at the Moonlite All-Nite Diner and saw the scientist walk in, he scoffed quietly, looking down at his apple pie and picking at it some more. He couldn’t help himself, though, his eyes curiously flickering back up after a moment, watching the scientist. He was with others, all four of them in lab coats, and so Earl assumed that they must be his team of scientists. He’d heard about them on the radio. He’d heard a lot on the radio.

The scientists sat down in a booth not too far from his, and Earl tried his best not to roll his eyes. Great. Now he’d have to deal with the man’s perfect oaky tones and perfect white teeth and perfect curly hair for the rest of his evening. 

He sighed, now taking a small sip of his coffee as the scientists began some loud conversation about some stupid topic Earl didn’t really understand. It seemed like a debate. He could hear every person’s words due to the close proximity of their booth to his, and he could tell which voice was Carlos’s without even looking up. 

The scientist’s voice didn’t sound the way Earl had expected it to. It didn’t have any irritating edge to it, yet it also wasn’t as dark and mysterious as Earl figured it would be. He sounded excited, almost, like a little kid who’d just won an award at the science fair. It was almost endearing.

Earl quickly forced himself out of those thoughts, trying to think about something else, like what new items they might be adding to the menu at Tourniquet. He wasn’t supposed to like Carlos. He definitely wasn’t, yet there was something in his voice that made Earl want to smile, want to like him. He sounded so genuine, so enthusiastic about whatever it was the scientists were discussing. By now, after hearing a little more words, he could hear that the topic of their conversation was something about dinosaurs. 

Of course Carlos would be enthusiastic about dinosaurs. At first, Earl had assumed that he would be a brooding, enigmatic type, full of secrets and mysteries. Now that Earl was watching him, though, he didn’t seem to fit that description as well as Earl had imagined. He wasn’t secretive or mysterious at all. Instead, he was lighthearted and excitable-- or at least, that’s what he seemed to be like. 

Earl watched him, continuing to pick at his apple pie slowly. He was starting to understand a little of what Cecil had spoken of on the radio. He could see how Carlos’s teeth could be like a military cemetery, how those dark curls framed his face just perfectly. With each little perfect detail he observed about the scientist, an odd sort of fear grew in his chest. What was he doing? Why was he thinking this? Why was he falling in love with yet another unattainable man?

Carlos was still chattering away to his scientists, the topic of their conversation having changed by now. Earl wasn’t focusing on the words being spoken now, though. His eyes were stuck on the scientist, taking in everything he saw. He was gorgeous, and Earl could see that now, even if he didn’t want to. It was hard to ignore, really. 

He seemed to forget about his apple pie, letting it go cold and untouched on the plate in front of him. Thoughts were swirling around his head like the little orange flurries of snow that had fallen over town last Saturday, and he couldn’t manage to catch any, couldn’t seem to focus on any one thing. It was almost like he was in a trance-- a trance he was stuck in until the waitress tapped his shoulder and asked if he was done with his meal.

He nodded pretty quickly, asking for his check. Maybe it was best that he left now. Maybe tomorrow he’d be able to go back to resenting Carlos for having the opportunity that he never had, and forget about his apparent perfection. Maybe. Hopefully.

He stood, taking a deep breath and holding his head high as he walked past Carlos’s booth. He was careful to keep his eyes away from the man, not wanting to insinuate any more thoughts like the ones he’d just been having. He just needed to forget for now. He was good at that, apparently-- he’d forgotten a good chunk of his whole life. He’d just go home, go to bed, and forget all about the diner and the energetic voice coming from the other booth. Forgetting was really all he wanted right now.

So, naturally, when he woke up the next morning, the man with the pristine smile and soft curls was the first thing on his mind.


End file.
